NASA的巨型金属球：英语精读讲义

This is Echo,

这是Echo，

a giant metal balloon launched by NASA in the 1960s.

一个由NASA在20世纪60年代发射的巨大金属气球。

Known as the most beautiful satellite ever launched, 語法

它被称为有史以来发射过的最美丽卫星，

it had no electronics

它没有任何电子设备，

and simply bounced radio signals around the world using its reflective surface.

仅仅通过其反射面在世界各地反射无线电信号。

Despite its simplicity, 語法

尽管它非常简单，

it worked extremely well.

它的工作效果却极好。

Soon after it launched,

在它发射后不久，

President Eisenhower sent a voice message from California to New Jersey.

艾森豪威尔总统发送了一条从加利福尼亚到新泽西的语音信息。

This is President Eisenhower speaking.

这里是艾森豪威尔总统。

It is a great personal satisfaction

我个人感到非常满足，

to participate in this first experiment in communications.

能够参与这次通信领域的首次实验。

Up until this point, 表達脈絡

在此之前，

all communication around the world

世界各地的所有通信，

had to be done using a crazy maze of undersea cables. 語法

都必须使用错综复杂的海底电缆网络来完成。

So the idea of satellite communication was mind-blowing. 用詞

所以卫星通信的想法在当时简直是令人震撼的。

But not everyone thought it would work. 語法

但并非所有人都认为它会奏效。

Some engineers thought that the Earth's ionosphere

一些工程师认为地球的电离层，

would block any radio waves trying to pass through.

会阻挡任何试图穿过的无线电波。

So before Echo was ever launched,

因此在Echo发射之前，

NASA had to prove that satellite communication would work.

NASA必须证明卫星通信是可行的。

That's when they realized they already had a satellite that could reflect signals, 表達脈絡

这时他们意识到他们已经有一颗可以反射信号的卫星，

the moon.

那就是月球。

And so in a series of tests,

于是在一系列测试中，

they successfully used the moon as a giant reflector 語法

他们成功地利用月球作为巨大的反射器，

to send voice signals from New Jersey to California.

将语音信号从新泽西发送到了加利福尼亚。

But how did this actually work?

但这到底是如何运作的呢？

In the same way that light bounces off a mirror, 表達脈絡

就像光线会被镜子反射一样，

radio waves can also be reflected.

无线电波也可以被反射。

As the signal is bounced off the surface, 短語動詞

当信号从表面弹开时，

it spreads out in every direction. 短語動詞

它会向四面八方扩散。

A small portion of the signal will make its way back to Earth 習語

信号的一小部分将返回地球，

where it can be picked up by a receiver in a different location. 短語動詞

在那里它可以被位于不同位置的接收器捕捉到。

A larger reflector will return a stronger and more focused signal.

更大的反射器会传回更强、更集中的信号。

And so in order for these balloons to work, 語法

所以为了让这些气球发挥作用，

they had to be absolutely massive.

它们必须非常巨大。

Echo 1 was made from a giant sheet of Mylar plastic,

Echo 1是由一大张Mylar塑料制成的，

1/10 the thickness of a human hair. 語法

厚度仅为人类头发的十分之一。

The sheet was cut up into over 100 gores,

这张塑料布被裁剪成100多块拼接片，

which were each covered in a thin layer of aluminum to give the balloon its shiny surface. 短語搭配

每一块都覆盖着一层薄薄的铝，赋予气球闪亮的表面。

The gores were glued together to create the final sphere.

这些拼接片被粘合在一起，最终形成了球体。

On Earth,

在地球上，

the balloon needed an entire 18 tons of air to keep it inflated.

这个气球需要整整18吨的空气来保持充气状态。

In space,

但在太空中，

only a few kilograms were needed.

只需要几公斤就够了。

This is because on Earth,

这是因为在地球上，

our atmosphere pushes against the balloon,

我们的大气层会挤压气球，

and so more air is needed to counteract this.

所以需要更多的空气来抵消这种压力。

In space,

而在太空中，

there is no atmosphere and only a tiny amount of air is needed to fill the balloon.

没有大气层，只需要极少量的空气就能填满气球。

Once it was complete,

一旦完工，

NASA inflated Echo for the first time,

NASA第一次给Echo充了气，

and in 1958,

而在1958年，

this giant balloon came to life. 習語

这个巨大的气球焕发了生机。

This would be by far the biggest thing ever launched into space, 語法

这将是迄今为止发射到太空中最大的物体，

and the only way it would get there was by packing it down and inflating it once it was in orbit. 語法

让它上天的唯一方法是将其打包，等到了轨道再充气。

But this proved to be a massive challenge. 短語搭配

但这被证明是一项巨大的挑战。

Without its own air supply, 表達脈絡

没有自己的空气供应，

how did Echo actually inflate itself?

Echo到底是如何自行充气的呢？

Well,

那么，

a fresh supply of air was carried up to the balloon every month using the Starship Enterprise. 文化背景

每个月都有新鲜的空气通过Starship Enterprise运送给气球。

Just kidding.

开玩笑的。

No Starship Enterprise was used in Project Echo,

在Project Echo中没有使用Starship Enterprise，

but they were used in the sponsor of today's video,

但它们出现在今天视频的赞助商中，

Paradox, with their new game,

Paradox和他们的新游戏，

Star Trek Infinite,

Star Trek Infinite，

a strategy game that puts you in charge of colonizing and exploring other civilizations within the Star Trek universe.

这是一款策略游戏，让你在Star Trek宇宙中负责殖民和探索其他文明。

As the head of your civilization,

作为你文明的首领，

you can choose to play as one of the four main civilizations

你可以选择扮演四个主要文明之一，

and take on iconic captains and officers like Picard, Janeway, Sisko, and Data.

并与Picard、Janeway、Sisko和Data等标志性舰长和军官并肩作战。

There is no single way of playing.

没有单一的玩法。

You can deal with other civilizations peacefully

你可以与其他文明和平共处，

or take them over using all-out warfare. 短語動詞

或者通过全面战争来接管它们。

You are in command.

一切由你指挥。

The game offers a wide range of starships from the Star Trek fleet,

游戏提供了Star Trek舰队中各种各样的星舰，

all of which can be modified and upgraded to make your civilization ready for anything.

所有星舰都可以改装和升级，让你的文明为任何情况做好准备。

Get the game today and create your own Star Trek story by visiting the link in the description.

立即获取游戏，点击描述中的链接，创造你自己的Star Trek故事。

In order to turn Echo from this into this,

为了让Echo从这个变成这个，

it needed to inflate itself in space.

它需要在太空中自行充气。

Instead of carrying its own air, 語法

气球并没有携带自己的空气，

the balloon had small canisters of benzoic acid,

而是装有装着苯甲酸的小罐子，

a special powder that turns straight from a solid into a gas when exposed to heat. 語法

这是一种特殊的粉末，遇热直接从固态变成气态。

And so when the balloon was released into space,

因此当气球被释放到太空中时，

the heat from the sun would quickly turn it into gas,

太阳的热量会迅速将其转化为气体，

causing it to expand inside the balloon. 語法

使其在气球内部膨胀。

In just a matter of seconds, 短語搭配

仅仅几秒钟的时间，

this enormous balloon would be fully inflated.

这个巨大的气球就会完全膨胀起来。

But having such a massive object in space made it a target for micrometeorites.

但在太空中拥有如此巨大的物体，使它成为微陨石的靶子。

To combat any small punctures to its skin, 語法

为了应对表面可能出现的任何小孔，

Echo 1 carried extra supplies of benzoic acid

Echo 1携带了额外的苯甲酸储备，

that could be released to maintain the balloon's pressure. 短語搭配

可以释放出来以维持气球的压力。

Echo 2, on the other hand, 表達脈絡

另一方面，Echo 2

had a better solution.

有一个更好的解决方案。

Its skin was also made of Mylar,

它的外皮也是由Mylar制成的，

but it was sandwiched between two sheets of aluminum foil. 用詞

但它被夹在两层铝箔之间。

When the balloon was pressurized,

当气球加压时，

the foil would get stretched,

铝箔会被拉伸，

causing it to stiffen up and harden in place.

导致其变得僵硬并固定成型。

This made the balloon rigid.

这使得气球变得坚硬。

Even if micrometeorites hit the balloon, 語法

即使微陨石击中气球，

it would maintain its shape.

它也会保持其形状。

Of course, these giant shiny balloons ended up being extremely visible. 短語動詞

当然，这些闪亮的巨大气球最终变得极其醒目。

For an entire decade,

在整整十年的时间里，

they were some of the brightest objects in the night sky,

它们是夜空中最亮的物体之一，

even brighter than the North Star. 語法

甚至比北极星还要亮。

But this brightness was actually a key feature.

但这种亮度实际上是一个关键特征。

In order to actually send and receive signals,

为了真正发送和接收信号，

the ground stations had to be able to track and lock onto the balloon 講解

地面站必须能够追踪并锁定气球，

as it moved across the sky.

随着它在天空中移动。

And so the easiest way was to simply point the antenna dish

因此，最简单的方法就是在气球可见时，

directly at the balloon when it was visible.

直接将天线罩对准气球。

Of course, this was only possible when the balloon happened to be over that part of the Earth, 語法

当然，这只有在气球碰巧在地球这片区域上方时才有可能，

and only during twilight hours

并且只有在黄昏时分，

when the sun was illuminating the balloons.

当太阳照亮气球时才能做到。

If the balloons couldn't be seen with the naked eye, 短語搭配

如果肉眼无法看到气球，

they could rely on NASA's tracking network,

他们可以依靠NASA的跟踪网络，

which did its best to predict the orbits of satellites. 短語搭配

该网络尽力预测卫星的轨道。

On Echo 2,

在Echo 2上，

they included a tracking beacon,

他们包含了一个跟踪信标，

which sent out a pulse

它可以发出脉冲信号，

and made the balloon much easier to track during the day.

使气球在白天更容易被追踪。

Most of Echo's communication was done between purpose-built ground stations in California and New Jersey. 用詞

Echo的大部分通信都是在加利福尼亚和新泽西专门建造的地面站之间进行的。

But Project Echo was a global experiment.

但Project Echo是一个全球性实验。

Thanks to its polar orbit, 表達脈絡

得益于其极地轨道，

the balloons passed over every part of the world,

这些气球飞越了世界各个角落，

allowing transmissions to be done by anyone that had the equipment.

让任何拥有相关设备的人都能进行信号传输。

Transmissions were even done between the US and the Soviet Union,

甚至在美国和苏联之间也进行了信号传输，

who nicknamed the balloon the friendly Sputnik. 文化背景

苏联给这颗气球起名叫友好的Sputnik。

But the balloons weren't just useful for sending signals around the world. 語法

但这些气球不仅在向世界各地发送信号方面很有用。

They were also used to accurately measure the size and shape of Earth.

它们还被用来精确测量地球的大小和形状。

At the time,

在当时，

our most accurate measurements relied on star triangulation,

我们最精确的测量依赖于恒星三角测量法，

which meant that the actual distances between continents and cities

这意味着大陆和城市之间的实际距离，

could be off by over 100 km. 用詞

可能会有超过100公里的误差。

And so scientists used Echo to map the exact location of various points all around Earth.

因此科学家们利用Echo绘制了地球周围各个点的精确位置。

First,

首先，

they measured the signal travel time from two different locations,

他们测量了来自两个不同位置的信号传播时间，

which would give them the distance to Echo.

这将给出它们到Echo的距离。

Then,

然后，

by measuring the angle that Echo appeared in the sky, 語法

通过测量Echo出现在天空中的角度，

the scientists could form a triangle.

科学家们可以构成一个三角形。

With this,

借此，

the distance between both points could be calculated to within a few meters. 短語搭配

两点之间的距离可以被计算到几米以内。

This made our measurements of the Earth around 10 times more accurate. 語法

这使我们对地球的测量精确了约10倍。

But the science didn't stop there with Echo. 習語

但关于Echo的科学研究并没有就此止步。

After all, 表達脈絡

毕竟，

NASA was only a couple years old at the time,

当时NASA才成立几年，

and very little was known about the long-term effects that satellites would experience in space. 語法

人们对于卫星在太空中会经历的长期影响知之甚少。

One of the biggest unknowns was atmospheric drag.

其中最大的未知数之一是大气阻力。

Even at an altitude of 1,500 km,

即使在1500公里的高度，

there are tiny traces of atmosphere that will slow down objects in orbit. 短語動詞

仍有微量的大气会使轨道上的物体减速。

And with such a large surface area,

而且由于表面积如此之大，

these balloons felt the effect more than any other satellite.

这些气球受到的影响比任何其他卫星都要大。

Thanks to Echo 1,

多亏了Echo 1，

NASA were able to track how its orbit changed over several years. 用詞

NASA能够追踪其轨道在几年内的变化情况。

As it turned out, 表達脈絡

结果证明，

it changed a lot.

它发生了很大的变化。

Surprisingly,

令人惊讶的是，

atmospheric drag had nothing to do with this. 習語

大气阻力与此毫无关系。

Instead,

相反，

the solar wind,

太阳风，

which radiates out from the sun,

即从太阳辐射出的粒子流，

was pushing Echo 1 towards Earth.

正在将Echo 1推向地球。

These two balloons continued to work perfectly throughout the '60s,

这两颗气球在整个60年代都继续完美运作，

and they proved that a global communication system in space was a good idea.

它们证明了在太空中建立全球通信系统是个好主意。

During their time in space,

在它们处于太空的时间里，

these iconic balloons taught NASA more than they could ever have imagined. 語法

这些标志性的气球教会了NASA超出他们想象的知识。

The receiver that was used to detect Echo's signal

用于探测Echo信号的接收器，

went on to discover the Big Bang. 短語動詞

后来接着发现了宇宙大爆炸（微波背景辐射）。

The materials developed for Echo are still used in spacecraft to this day. 短語搭配

为Echo开发的材料，至今仍用于航天器。

Although these types of satellites never caught on, 講解

尽管这类卫星从未流行起来，

their legacy as the first leap into space communications

但它们作为向太空通信迈出第一步的遗产，

will live on forever. 短語動詞

将永远长存。

And Echo 1 and 2 will go down as the most beautiful satellites ever made. 短語動詞

而Echo 1和2将作为有史以来制造的最美丽的卫星被载入史册。

And now time for the Primal Space giveaway.

现在是Primal Space的抽奖时间。

The winner of the previous giveaway is Harrison.

上次抽奖的获胜者是Harrison。

Congratulations.

恭喜。

In the next video,

在下个视频中，

we'll be giving away this awesome space shuttle poster to one lucky winner.

我们将把这张超赞的航天飞机海报送给一位幸运的获胜者。

All you need to do is sign up at the link below,

你需要做的就是在下方的链接注册，

like the video,

点赞这个视频，

and leave a comment talking about the first satellite you ever saw in the sky.

并留下一条评论，谈谈你在天空中看到的第一颗卫星。

Thank you very much for watching

非常感谢您的观看，

and I'll see you in the next video.

我们下个视频再见。